A Few Videos!

We have some good pictures to come soon also. But videos are so fun!



We have the bath video but it's really large (262MB) so I don't think it'll upload to blogger. Until I figure out how to edit it, we'll have to wait..

Here's just happy fun time with Gigi:




And another:

End of October Update

Julien turns 8 weeks old tomorrow! I can't believe it has been almost two months since his birth. We are still having a lot of fun. He is a really starting to engage with people now. He just started laughing last week, he kind of opens his mouth in a big grin and then coughs. I am pretty sure it is a laugh because he is doing it fairly often while playing.

Grandma Gigi and Papa Mike are here visiting and Julien is having a great time with them. He spends each morning being read to, cuddled and talked to by his grandparents. Gigi is really good at making him laugh and talk which is a lot of fun to watch. They also bsrought costumes from the US. Julien will be a pirate for Halloween and he has a great Santa/reindeer ensemble for Christmas. He even has a Thanksgiving bib with a Turkey.

We have been having a great time with Josh's parents. When they aren't babysitting they are often cooking us terrific dinners and helping me with the house. Wednesday Glenda and I went shopping while Mike watched the baby, it was lovely to have an girls afternoon. We even had Champagne at Galleries Layfette. Josh and I also got a chance to go out to dinner just the two of us which was wonderful. We went to a fantastic Sushi place then stopped off for a glass of wine at a little wine bar. We were gone three whole hours!

Next week we are headed to the UK for a little mini vacation. Josh has to give a presentation in London so Juju and I are going to tag along and then the three of us will head to the lake district for a few days. I am not sure of the weather so I am digging out our warm clothes. I am still trying to lose the last 10-15 pounds of baby weight so I am having some difficulty finding stuff that fits. I guess my Boda-Bing pants will suffice in London as well as they have in Paris.

We are taking Julien on the plane for the first time. I really pray it goes well since we have already booked our flight to California in November. It will be only an hour next week but 11.5 hours to California! Hopefully he is a good baby and if not I hope the other passengers are forgiving!

Julien is alseep right now so I better take advantage of the down time and do some more laundry. The baby goes through at least two outfits a day, often three or four. Thank goodness for my dryer!

Hopefully Josh will post some pictures this weekend. I have a video of Glenda giving the baby a bath so that should be pretty good.

Olivers in Paris

Probably rather self explanatory, the photos..








Have fun out there!

Josh

Connected

We're back! We have a temporary fix to our internet/telephone/TV problem with a permanent one on order, uh, soon, so everything is back up and running.

And of course some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Julien during "tummy time"

Our Savior the swing. Julien loves the bears hanging over top.

Gena showing off her Parisian fashion sense.

The beautiful set of trees we found during our walk.

Disconnected

Well, I'm writing this at work so it's gotta be quick but just to let everyone know that our internet connection at home seems to have slipped off the rails. As our telephone, internet, and tv signal are all from a single advice nothing is working. "Oh dear" you say. Yes indeed, the blog is on hold a bit especially since I can't upload pictures from work. I have it on my list of things to do this afternoon to call the provider and determine what to do - but I'll need to enlist French Help to do it - that's what collegues are for!

So you need to call us? Call my cell phone +33.6.75.22.79.17 or Gena's +33.6.80.52.29.52. It might cost you a little more but if you gotta talk to us, you gotta talk to us! We can call you back maybe too.

Try to write again when (fingers crossed) the line is fixed. See 'ya, lots of love!

Gena and the baby are fine, by the way!


-Josh

It's Fall in the Buttes Chaumont

Julien's first doctors visit

Since Josh established that we are "those parents" I will tell you about Julien's first doctors appointment. We went last night to meet the good doctor who was recommended to us by some friends here in Paris. His name is Dr. Lovejoy (who could resist choosing him with that name?). He is an American which is wonderful because he treats the baby according to an American vaccine schedule. This way we should be right on track when we move back to the states.

Dr. Lovejoy is very through and anticipated most of our questions before we could even ask. He also has a website and provided us with numerous phone numbers and an email if we need to reach him, this was great after the difficulty I have had reaching my doctor here in France!

Julien is still a healthy baby! He gained a kilo and one centimeter which puts him over 10 pounds and around 23 inches. It is hard to get a length measurement because Julien kind of goes into a ball sometimes (we call it the frog position). We thought we had a big baby but according to the US charts, which Dr. Lovejoy uses he is right in the middle for weight, length and head circumfrence. He also got his first shot and was such a good boy! The doctor gave me some Tylenol for him if he got fussy but I didn't have to use it, Julien went right to sleep when we got home.

I am happy with our doctor selection and very glad Julien is healthy and strong. Julien seems to really smile now, this morning I spent about 10 minutes singing the good morning to you song to him while he smiled and cooed. He then decided breakfast would be better than my singing and let me know!

Hands are fun! Left and Right.

Okay, I have come to admit it. We are "those people". Those who celebrate the tiniest, most seemingly insignificant events in our little baby's life, spreading the news in all it's importance that our little one made a sound, blinked his eyes, turned his head, made more poop than usual. Who are we now? Rather - what were we before? I forget.

Faces of Julien

Starting with "The Negotiator" here, the following pictures were taken over the course of 2 minutes and 15 seconds. Enjoy!

Some Fontainebleu Pictures

Just a couple, because I didn't actually take that many with people in them! Mostly playing with the new lens and there is a learning curve, so.. not all as good as I had hoped. Here are some that survived:


Here is G and J under a large tree in a clearing along the path we took




We went on a large path for a while, here is Gena and Julien posing a little bit.



Finally at a nice overlook - the sky was really cool and the leaves on the trees are just starting to change. Here is one with all three of us:


Next closer up of Gena and Julien. I'm just setting up the shot but this one turned out okay:


And then all three of us closer up. Thank goodness for tripods!

Don't forget you can click on the picture to see a larger version. Any larger and you have to ask me!